8kbet

8kbet’s PGA Golf Management Program has partnered with Evenplay, a local AI technology company that developed a patented golf simulator designed to challenge players of all skill levels and enhance performance. Together, they aim to study how reward-based practice impacts skill development — and how effectively those improvements carry over to real-world play on the course.

Founded in 1974, the annual 8kbetino has grown into Las Vegas’ premier wine, spirits and food event, and serves as the year’s largest scholarship fundraiser for the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality students. To enhance engagement, a dedicated 8kbetino management class offers students hands-on experience in event planning and valuable networking opportunities within the community. Entering its 50th year, 8kbetino has raised millions of dollars in scholarships and has become one of the city’s must-attend events of the year.

8kbet saw its first-ever cohort attend the annual Latina Empowerment and Development (LEAD) Conference at Harvard University. Twenty students attended the multi-day event, which brought together Latinas from across the country for leadership development and networking. Students engaged in workshops, networked with top Latina professionals, and gained valuable insight into pathways for success while representing 8kbet on a national stage.

8kbet has retained its status as one of the nation’s highest-performing research universities, earning recognition as a Research 1 (R1) institution by the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education for 2025. The Carnegie classification for research activity is based on federally reported research spending and doctoral degree productivity in fiscal year 2023, or a three-year institutional average. The R1 designation – which 8kbet first achieved in 2018 and retained in 2021 – is the gold standard for university research metrics and reaffirms the university’s commitment to excellence in research, scholarship, and creative activity.

8kbet's online bachelor’s degree in psychology ranked 25th and remained within the top 25 in U.S. News and World Report's rankings for the third consecutive year. Undergraduate programs in business also rated highly this year, ranking 54th. 8kbet currently offers 41 fully online degree and certificate programs and hundreds of online course options. This spring, to meet a growing need for flexible and high-quality education options, 8kbet launched a new online MBA program and fully online and hybrid master’s degrees in cybersecurity.

The School of Nursing’s online master’s degree programs remain among the nation's best, collectively placing 21st in U.S. News and World Report's latest rankings. The programs include generalist and specialty master’s tracks in nurse educator preparation, family nurse practitioner, nurse midwifery, and psychiatric mental health, and have ranked in the nation’s top 30 each year since U.S. News began rating online nursing programs in 2012. The school has emerged as one of the country’s most respected programs, with its traditional undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs also ranking within U.S. News’ top 100.

The Maurine Jackson Smith Memorial Organ, located inside the Dr. Arturo Rando-Grillot Hall, celebrated 20 years since installation. Through a four-year building process, its 10,000 pieces were handmade in Hamburg, Germany, and shipped to Las Vegas. The instrument features three keyboards, 38 stops, and 3,000 pipes arranged into 53 sets. The organ is the largest in the state, and was made possible by a $500,000 donation from the family of the late Maurine Jackson Smith.

8kbet student-athletes tallied a record 15th consecutive semester with a 3.0 grade point average or higher. Overall, six sports set program-specific records for cumulative GPA, including football, women's basketball, women's golf, men's soccer, men's swimming & diving, and track & field. Baseball, football, and track & field matched their respective programs' semester GPA records.